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Friday, November 16, 2018

Hackers are Bundling Up This Fall.

Well, it’s nearing the end of the year. You know what that means: it’s time for the ‘best of 2018’ collections to start coming out. One category is Best Movies of 2018… personally, I think The Incredibles 2 is at the top of that list. Another category is Best of Ransomware. Yes, there is a ‘best of the year’ collection for cybercriminals. To the surprise of no one, the ransomware collection is being sold on the Dark Web, but there are many surprising elements to the bundle.

First off, the fact that the year’s most dangerous ransomware variants are being sold as a package deal at a reduced price should show the... professionalism… of the Dark Web marketplaces, as strange as it is to use that word to describe cybercriminals. This crime-as-a-service model is nothing new, but this bundle is undoubtedly a step above the norm. There are 23 ransomware variants included in the bundle, including SamSam. Yes, the notorious SamSam ransomware is included in the bundle. If you don’t know what SamSam is, it is a variant of ransomware that is infamous because of the high-profile targets it has been used against and because until now, it was under lock and key deployed only by a highly specialized group.

This bundle is not for inexperienced hackers, however, which would be worse than the current situation. An unskilled hacker would find difficulty putting most of the bundle to use. The bundle will be removed from the marketplace after sold 25 times, according to the seller, although it is unclear why this is the case. Don’t let one of the hackers who buy this bundle use it against your business! See last week’s The Week in Breach for tips on avoiding ransomware.